Police found the bodies of three people in this apartment building on the 500 block of North Victoria Street in St. Paul on Sunday afternoon, March 24, 2013. (Pioneer Press: John Doman)

Two men and a woman were found dead at a duplex in St. Paul's Frogtown neighborhood the afternoon of Sunday, March 24 2013. Police have said the woman and one of the men were married and the other man was a relative of the woman's. They have not commented on an apparent dispute that preceded the deaths of the three people. (Pioneer Press: Will Ashenmacher)

A woman pounded on the neighbor’s door, four young grandchildren at her side, and cried, “Help, help, help! They’re killing each other!”

The neighbor said he called 911 to summon St. Paul police, who found the bodies of Panhnia Yang, 27; her husband, Chue Lor, 31; and her brother Kong Meng Lee, 18, in the apartment next door, on Sunday, March 24.

Police would not elaborate Monday on whether the incident was a double homicide and suicide but no suspects were being sought, police spokesman Sgt. Paul Paulos said.

There were indications Panhia Yang had been trying to leave her husband. Next-door neighbor Chue Vue said Monday that Chue Lor had told him his wife had left their apartment in the 500 block of North Victoria Street about a week ago. The neighbor didn’t know why she’d gone, but said Chue Lor had been crying about it.

The couple’s four children, ages 3 to 9, had been placed in the care of relatives, Paulos said. They did not witness the deaths, he said.

Chue Lor’s mother, who had come to neighbor Chue Vue’s apartment with her grandchildren, told him her son had begged and cried to his wife, “I don’t want you to leave. Please come back. We’ll take care of the kids.”

Police were called to the basement apartment about 4:30 p.m. Sunday. David Givhan, who lives across the hall from Chue Lor, said he had seen the man about half an hour earlier.

Chue Lor was outside his apartment with his young daughter, and the girl was shouting, “Don’t, Daddy, don’t!” Givhan said he didn’t know why she was saying it, but the man seemed nervous.

Givhan said he went into his apartment and heard some “bump” sounds, but no shouting. He took a shower, and police were at the building 10 minutes later.

Police have not said how the people were killed.

According to police radio traffic, officers arriving at the scene reported a possible stabbing victim and then said there were “two more down.” A dispatcher also said there was a report of three stabbing victims.

Chue Vue said he looked out his door after he called 911 and saw Chue Lor lying by the front door of the apartment building, not moving.

The last time police were called to the apartment where the bodies were discovered was in 2011, Paulos said. Court records show driving offenses for Chue Lor but not domestic discord.

If any of the deaths are ruled homicides, they would be the latest in a series of domestic-violence homicides in the area this year. Police say Anna Hurd, Kira Trevino and Margorie Holland were killed in a two-week span in February and March, and Manya Johnson was slain in St. Paul in January. Their husbands or, in Hurd’s case, a boyfriend have been charged with murder. All the women were leaving or talking about doing so.

Not including Sunday’s deaths, seven women and one man have been killed in intimate-partner homicides in Minnesota in 2013, according to the Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women. Four women and two men had been killed in domestic-violence-related homicides at the same time last year, the coalition’s annual report showed.

Chue Vue said he has lived in the building for three years and had not heard arguing from the couple in the past. He knew Chue Lor as the caretaker of their small apartment building — a friendly man who shared with Chue Vue’s family the cucumbers and corn he grew for his own family.

Chue Lor told his neighbor that his wife had sought a restraining order against him, though no order for protection involving the couple could be found in court records. Chue Vue said he told the man he needed to stay away from Panhia Yang, “be cool,” and suggested he exercise patience.

Chue Vue said he was saddened by what happened Sunday.

“I just feel very bad,” he said. “I never want to see something happen like that. And why? I can’t believe it.”

Mara Gottfried has been a Pioneer Press reporter since 2001, mostly covering public safety. Gottfried lived in St. Paul as a young child and returned to the Twin Cities after graduating from the University of Maryland. You can reach her at 651-228-5262.

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